User`s guide

38 • Getting Started
3.4 BIOS Configuration Overview
This topic presents an introduction to the Award PnP BIOS Setup Utility. For
more detailed information about the BIOS and other utilities, see the BIOS
Manual.
The BIOS has many separately configurable features. These features are
selected by running the built-in Setup utility. System configuration settings
are saved in a portion of the battery-backed RAM in the real-time clock device
and are used by the BIOS to initialize the system at boot up or reset. The
configuration is protected by a checksum word for system integrity.
To access the Setup utility, press the "Del" key during the system RAM check
at boot time. When Setup runs, an interactive configuration screen displays.
Setup parameters are divided into different categories. The available
categories are listed in a menu. The parameters within the highlighted
(current) category are listed in the bottom portion of the Setup screen. Context
sensitive help is displayed in the right portion of the screen for each
parameter.
Use the arrow keys to select a category from the menu. To display a
submenu, highlight the category and then press the "Enter" key.